Hellfire (song) - Composition

Composition

It begins in Bb major, before turning to its relative minor G. It soon modulates briefly into C minor, then F major, has a spoken intersection where the bass lies on A, dominant of D minor, the key which the song finally ends in.

Hellfire contains parts of the Confiteor, a Latin prayer of confession used by the Roman Catholic Church. This prayer begins directly after "Heaven's Light" and serves as the introduction to "Hellfire". It also provides counterpoint material throughout the song, whose ending also contains the Kyrie eleison.

The instrumental accompaniment to the song serves as a musical motif that alters in tone depending on the action. As well as some variations heard early on (such as in The Bells of Notre Dame), this motif "informs much of the score that chronologically follows in the film". Reviewer Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com adds that 'Both "Paris Burning' and 'Sanctuary!' explicitly continue the instrumental backdrop and Latin chanting of 'Hellfire,' a sound that becomes more general in 'And He Shall Smite the Wicked.'" Also, "the opening fanfare is also reintroduced at the end of 'Heaven's Light', makes up the melody during the chorus of 'Hellfire', and plays in the instrumental 'Sanctuary!'"